time, at least, act upon British principles: from that moment he is equally an enemy to France, as any of the boldest or best of his predecessors. France knows, and will pursue, her natural interest: to make us tributary, to make us provincial, to destroy us as a nation, was, and must, and can only be, the true design of France.

But the genius of the nation exerted itself in the cause of liberty, under the command of his royal highness the duke; and when we consider our misfortunes under former leaders, and how the true English valour prevailed, when animated and influenced by the presence and example of so great a commander, we may justly apply to his royal highness what was said of Scipio, tantus exercitus, quantus im'perator.'

Before I come to the particular part, which the lord at the bar has acted; it may be necessary to give a short history of this unnatural rebellion: and here the names of the two unfortunate peers, who have just confessed their guilt at your lordships' bar, must often occur.

In June 1745, the son of the Pretender landed in the west highlands of Scotland: few then were his company or followers; but the cloud, which seemed, at first, to be no larger than a man's hand, quickly gathered, and blackened that part of the hemisphere. The first who appeared were the Macdonalds and the Camerons, men famed for rebellious acts: they were soon joined by the duke of Perth, the marquis of Tullibardine, lord Elcho, and lord George Murray; and when they came to Perth, their number was 5,000 men; from thence they marched to Edinburgh, and there they proclaimed the Pretender; and soon after, September the 21st, followed the battle of Preston Pans. I wish that we could forget the miscarriages of that day!

In October the Pretender's son was joined by another body of rebels, under the command of the earl of Kilmarnock: his lordship made his first appearance on the banks of the river which divides England from Scotland: here I wish, for the sake of the nation, and for his own sake, that the noble lord had made some stop, and had well considered the enterprize on which he was going: could he have then foreseen the calamities, which his rash undertaking has brought upon his native country; could he have then beheld with his eyes the rapine, the violence, and the oppression, which have ensued; the opposition of the son to the father, of the brother to the brother, and how all the charities of one man to another were destroyed; could he have foreseen his own shameful retreat, and final overthrow, his feet had never passed the banks of that river.

From thence they marched into England, laid siege to Carlisle, and took it; and here again they proclaimed the Pretender: From thence they went to Penrith, and to many other places in England, till they came to Derby: in this town they heard, that his royal highness the duke was advancing towards them. VOL. XVIII.

Here rebellion grew pale; the fame of the duke's approach made them retreat: their march was expeditious; yet they left behind them so many marks of their cruelty and barbarity, as if their only design was to plunder and destroy.

His royal highness, with a detachment, pursued the rebels to Clifton; and it is doubtful, whether their cowardice or cruelty was here the most remarkable: they fled, and yet, in their haste, they took time to murder the king's soldiers, who lay wounded on the ground: from hence they got back to Carlisle, and from thence proceeded to Dumfries and Glasgow. And here I must remember the noble zeal and firmness which the magistrates and citizens of Glasgow expressed for their royal master, our most gracions sovereign: they paid, indeed, most heavy exactions for this their loyalty; which remain like so many scars; but the wounds were honourable.

From thence they marched to Bannockburn, and so to Stirling: here, they were joined by the earl of Cromertie, and then laid siege to Stirling Castle: this occasioned the battle of Falkirk to this place the lord Balmerino, the prisoner at the bar, marched at the head of his regiment: here the rebels retired; but victory was reserved for his royal highness. But, before I leave this field, I must lament the fate of a valiant soldier and commander; wounded, indeed, in the field of battle, but af terwards murdered in cold blood: let one more mark of infamy, at least, be fixed on this rebellion, for this murderous act, committed on so worthy and brave a gentleman.

From Falkirk the rebels retired to Stirling; from thence into the highlands, those hills of the robbers: after some time they joined again at Inverness; they attacked Fort George, then in the possession of his majesty's forces, and took it; they took Fort Augustus, and demolished it; before Fort William they met with a repulse: from thence they marched to Culloden field; a bloody field! where fell rebellion, I hope, never to rise again. To point out the conduct, to celebrate the courage of his royal highness, to paint the glory of that memorable day, is an attempt too bold: the gratitude of the nation, the united thanks of the parliament, and the approbation of his royal father, shew the greatness of the merit by the richness of the reward.

My lords, the particular circumstances attending the case of the unfortunate peer at your lordships' bar are considerable: hightreason is an offence foul and black in itself; it wants no colouring to make it appear more deformed and hideous: but the lord Balmerino has heightened every feature of this deformity: he was in the service of the king, a captain in the regiment commanded by the lord Shannon; not only therefore by his oath of allegiance, as a subject, but by his military oath as his ma jesty's soldier, as a soldier trusted by his sove. reign with a command, he lay under the strongest obligations to be faithful: but he be 2 H

As a reward for his treachery, the prisoner, my lords, was advanced to be the captain of the second troop of life-guards attending on the person of the Pretender's son: we shall shew, that soon after the city of Carlisle surrendered to the rebels, the prisoner entered that city at the head of his troop, with his sword drawn, colours displayed, and drums beating; he, dressed in the uniform of the regiment, with a white cockade in his hat: he went the same progress through the several places in England with the rebel army, an army of locusts; as they went, they devoured the land: before them was plenty, behind them destruction and desolation: he was present at the several places and times when the Pretender was proclaimed; and, on the return of the rebels into Scotland, he appeared in all places at the head of his troop: he commanded them at the battle of Falkirk; and with them he was defeated, and made a prisoner, in the field of Culloden.

To answer for these treasons is this unfortunate peer now brought to your lordships' bar: an awful tribunal! the illustrious judges who here preside, are under the strictest obligation to do impartial justice; for their only oath is their honour: to this tribunal we submit the cause of the king, and of our country: we will endeavour to prove the fact; and then we shall, with all deference and submission, expect your lordships' judgment.

Att. Gen. May it please your lordships; Your lordships have heard the nature of the charge against the noble lord at the bar, as it is laid in the indictment; and have likewise heard the rebellion, in which he was engaged traced from its rise to its happy conclusion. There is little room, in a case so notorious, for me to trouble your lordships in the opening. But, as the crime charged on the noble lord, is part of that great treason which was aimed against his majesty's throne and royal person, it may be incumbent on me to say something upon this very solemn occasion.

And however disagreeable it must be, to prosecute and try a noble person, one of your lordships high order, for a crime of this nature, public justice requires it, and it must be submitted to. Even your lordships, from your great regard to your king and country, will be easy in the discharge of that part of it, which belongs to your lordships.

As the noble lord has thought proper to plead not guilty, and thereby put the proof of his guilt on the king's counsel; there are two things that will fall under your lordships' consideration: The one, relating to the nature of the crime; the other, to the proof in support of it.

to remove that anxiety, which attended the obscurity of the law, in a point of the greatest importance to themselves and their posterity; and to reduce the law of treasons, which before lay hid in the breast of the judges, to certainty : or, if that law had never been made, this is one of the sorts of treasons that never did admit of a doubt; and, if the noble prisoner had impartially consulted his own breast, it must have told him it never could.

As that act makes it necessary to conviction, that the treason should be proved by some overt act; it has been usual, in indictments for this species of treason, not only to charge the levying war generally, but to specify those circumstances of of hostility which usually accom pany it, as a kind of overt act; such as joining himself to great numbers of other traitors, armed and arrayed with various sorts of weapons in a warlike manner, with colours displayed, drums beating, and the like: these circumstances are charged in the present indictment; to which another more particular overt act is added, of entering, possessing, and detaining the city of Carlisle against his majesty.

If these charges are proved, the consequence cannot be disputed. This brings me to that which alone will demand your lordships particular attention; how this charge is brought home, in point of evidence, to the prisoner at the bar.

And in this likewise, I believe I may venture to say, your lordships will have no difficulty; but you will have that great satisfaction, of being perfectly clear in the judgment you shall give.

The charge is not of that nature, which rests principally in the breast of the offender, to be discovered and proved by a variety of circumstances, set together and connected by art, to find out the secret designs of conspirators. It consists in a great number of facts, done in open day-light, in the face of the world, avowed and justified, and in which the noble lord did not rely on the secrecy of his treason, but the power of the traitors, for his defence.

Your lordships therefore will permit me very shortly to point out some of those facts. which will be fully proved by the witnesses: I don't mean to enter into a detail of what passed during the course of the rebellion; but only to touch on those matters, which will directly affect the prisoner, and shew the particular part he acted in this great scene of treason and confusion.

The noble prisoner seems to have engaged early in the rebellion. Whether it was owing to that, or his former attachments, he soon obtained a trust about the person of the Pretender's son; which could be reposed in none but the most zealously affected to that cause. He was made the commander of the second troop of horse called bis life-guards.

in their first march into England, and entered | Carlisle, at the head of his troop, in November Aast. In the same command he followed them through the counties of Cumberland, Lancaster, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and part of Derbyshire, till they came to Derby; and when they were stopped there by the approach of his royal highness the duke, and forced to fly before him by the way they came, he kept with them in their flight, and entered Carlisle a second time, with his troop. He did not wait till his royal highness came up, but with the rest of the rebel army, except the garrison, continued his flight into Scotland. He went with them to Glasgow, and Stirling, was present at the battle of Falkirk, and though not personally engaged, was drawn up at the head of his troop, to support the rebels that were. still continued to attend the rebellion in all its stages, till the same great commander, who gave the first check to its progress, put a final end to it at Culloden.

He

Your lordships will see him, by the evidence, in all the places I have mentioned, clothed in the uniform of the rebel guards, with a white cockade, his sword drawn, heading, commanding, and leading his troops, guarding the Pretender's son, proclaiming the Pretender, entering and seizing his majesty's towns, and acting as an enemy in his majesty's dominions, in open defiance of the laws, and to the infinite mischief of his majesty and his subjects; and all this with a direct view of dethroning this majesty, extirpating his royal family, and setting up a Popish Pretender in his room.

The several instances of his lordship's marching with the rebels in a hostile manner, will be so many distinct proofs of the first part of the charge; and the particular acts of

his entering and continuing in Carlisle, in the same hostile manner, will fully prove the second.

I have stated all these things, not because they are all necessary to the conviction of the noble lord, but for the clearer manifestation of his guilt. A very small part of these facts would be sufficient, if proved to your lordships' satisfaction: nor would it avail his lordship, if we should fail in the proof of any part of the charge on the very day it is laid in the indictment, as the noble lord vainly seems to think. The precise point of time, as it is in its own nature immaterial to the guilt, is equally so in the forms of our law.

All that remains is to call the witnesses; which, I doubt not, will fully make out the facts we have stated.

Sir John Strange. My lords, we will now proceed to call our witnesses.

Lord Balmerino. My lords, may I be heard? I thought, when a person was indicted, if there was any one article in the indictment that was not good against him, that all the rest was good for nothing.

L. H. S. You must hear the evidence. This cannot now be determined till the evidence is heard.

Lord Balmerino. Will your lordships please to examine them as to the time of my being at Carlisle?

L. H. S. The King's Counsel must proceed in their own method, provided they proceed according to law.

Lord Balmerino. Mylords, I humbly thank you for your advice.

L. H. S. Would your lordship have counsel

assigned you?

Lord Balmerino. No, my lords, I don't want any.

Sir John Strange. Call William M'Ghie.
William MGhie sworn.

Sir John Strange. Look at the noble lord at the bar. Do you know him?

M'Ghie. Yes; I know him very well.

Sir J. Strange. Pray, will you acquaint my lords, whether you saw him at any time, and where, in the rebel army?

MGhie. I saw the noble lord at Carlisle, going and coming.

Sir J. Strange. Do you mean the noble lord at the bar?-M-Ghie. Yes, I do.

Sir J. Strange. Pray, do you recollect the first time of your seeing him ?

M'Ghie. It was some time in November last; but the day I am not very sure of.

L. H. S. The witness's voice is so low, that some of my lords desire, That a clerk may repeat what he says. Is it your lordships' pleasure, that one of your clerks be appointed to stand by the witness, and report to your lordships what he says? Lords. Ay, ay.

Then one of the clerks was sworn, truly to report what the witness should say; and stood

within the bar, near the witness, and repeated his answers.

Sir J. Strange. If it is your lordships' pleasure, I will begin the examination again. L. H. S. I desire he may repeat again what

he has said.

Sir J. Strange. I ask you, if you know the noble lord at the bar?

M'Ghie. Yes; I do know the noble lord at

the bar.

Sir J. Strange. Will you please to acquaint their lordships, at what time, and where, you saw his lordship with the rebel army?

M'Ghie. I saw him at Carlisle, going and coming. The first time I saw his lordship there was in November last.

Sir J. Strange. Did not you see him before you came to Carlisle ?

M'Ghie. I saw him before we came to Carlisle; I also saw him coming into Carlisle, and in Carlisle.

Sir J. Strange. What company was he in then? M'Ghie. He was in company with the rebels.

Sir J. Strange. How did he appear, and what command had he then? M'Ghie. I don't know whether he had a

tions?

L. H. S. My lord, if you would ask this witness any questions, now is your time.

Lord Balmerino. I think, my lords, he has contradicted himself: He says first it was in November, and then in December, and then in January.

up, upon coming in there.

Sol. Gen. Where did you see him else? Did you see him in the return?

Douglas. I saw him at Derby, and at Manchester, in returning.

Sol. Gen. Did you see him any where else? Douglas. I saw him at Falkirk, and saw march all the way from Penrith to Car

vember?

MGhie. The rebels came first to Carlisle in November; and, when they came back, on their return, it was December about Christmas. L. H. S. He applies November to your first coming to Carlisle, and December to your returning thither.

Lord Balmerino. I can't tell the time myself, unless I was at home to look at my notes. L. H. S. Will your lordship ask him any more questions?

Lord Balmerino. No, my lords.

Sir J. Strange. I would beg leave to ask the witness one question. He says there was a garrison left in the city of Carlisle; I would ask him, Who that garrison was to defend the place against?

M'Ghie. Against his majesty king George. Hugh Douglas sworn.

Solicitor General. Look at the noble lord at the bar, and see whether you know him. Douglas. Yes, I know him.

Sol. Gen. Then give my lords an account, Whether you saw him in the rebel army at any time; and when, and where, and what he did: And give your account, as near as you can, in order of time.

Douglas. I saw him at Diddeston, before the Pretender marched out of Edinburgh.

Sol. Gen. Now, go on: Where did you see him next?-Douglas. I saw him at Kelso. Sol. Gen. Where next?

Douglas. At Carlisle.

Sol. Gen. In what manner did he march along with them from these several places to Carlisle?

Douglas. He was colonel of the second troop of the Pretender's life-guards.

Sol. Gen. Did be, during this march, command this second troop, or ride at the head of them?

Douglas. He commanded them, and rode at the head of them.

Sol. Gen. How were they armed ? Douglas. They had each a carbine, a brace of pistols, and a broad sword.

Sol. Gen. Did you see him at Carlisle?

Douglas. He marched from Penrith to Carlisle, and back again into Scotland, at the head of the troop of life-guards. I saw him all the way.

Sol. Gen. What did you see him do at Cardisle?

Douglas. I saw him at the head of his troop

Sol. Gen. Did you see him at Carlisle on his return? - Douglas. Yes.

Sol. Gen. When you saw him at Carlisle, was he with the rebel army ?-Douglas. Yes. Sol. Gen. Did you see him at the head of his troop?

Douglas. Yes; I saw him at the head of his troop of horse march from Penrith to Carlisle.

Sol. Gen. Did you see him, at any time in that march, act as an officer?

Douglas. Yes, he acted so far as an officer, that he rode at the head of his troop all the way. Sol. Gen. Did you afterwards see him? Douglas. Yes, I saw him at Diddeston.

Sol. Gen. Do you speak of your seeing him in going, or in the return?

Douglas. I speak of the return. I saw him at Carlisle, and at the battle of Falkirk.

Sol. Gen. Did you see him engaged in that battle?

Douglas. No, he was not engaged; none of the horse were engaged.

Sol. Gen. Did you see him with his sword drawn?

Douglas. All the men had their swords drawn; but I don't remember particularly as to him, whether I saw him with his sword drawn, or not.

Sol. Gen. Did you see him there at the head of any troop of horse?

Douglas. I saw him at the head of the second troop of life-guards at the battle of Falkirk. Sol. Gen. Did you see him after that time? Douglas. I don't remember that I saw him afterwards.

Sol. Gen. What sort of dress had he? Douglas. He had a blue coat faced with red, a gold-laced hat, and a cockade

Sol. Gen. What colour was the cockade?
Douglas. White.

Sol. Gen. What was the uniform of the troop?

Douglas. They all had blue coats with red facings, and gold-laced hats.

Sol. Gen. Had they all white cockades?
Douglas. Yes.

Sol. Gen. Had the troop their swords drawn?

Douglas. Yes, at Falkirk they were all drawn up together, and every one had his sword drawn.

Att. Gen. Where was this troop at the battle of Falkirk?

Douglas. They were drawn up together in a field, with the earl of Kilmarnock, and lord Pitsligo,